We offer our foster carers a great combination of support and rewards every step of the way on their fostering journey, including:
Support 24/7
We are committed to supporting our foster carers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, including:
- One-to-one sessions with your Supervising Social Worker
- Support groups run locally across the city
- ‘Out of hours‘ support
- A budding scheme for newly approved foster carers
Birmingham Foster Carers Association
Birmingham Foster Carers Association (BFCA) is a registered charity who provide support to foster carers in Birmingham. It is run by carers, for carers!
The BFCA is part funded by Birmingham Children’s Trust and works in partnership with us to:
- Support all carers
- Source, facilitate and promote relevant training
- Deliver/organise play schemes for children
- Provide new activities for fostering families
Independent Advice
We understand that sometimes you may want to access independent advice on fostering issues.
That’s why we provide our foster carers with membership to the UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network, which offers advice and information to carers on a range of issues, including income tax and finance, legislation, and allegations.
Ongoing Training and Development
We believe that our foster carers should be provided with the highest quality training and support to enable them to provide exceptional care for our children and young people.
We provide our carers opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills through a comprehensive free training programme and regular support groups, including:
- Pre-approval – We prepare you for your new role with our 3-day ‘Skills to Foster’ training
- Induction Programme – supporting you through your first year of fostering
- Foster care development – deepening your skills and experience
- Advanced programme – nationally accredited and specialist training
Starting training can be scary, so our programmes are developed by experienced practitioners and foster carers.
We keep our training relaxed and real, focusing on the most important part of the job – caring for our children.
We are proud to offer our carers:
- 85 online courses that you can dip into any time
- 40+ face-to-face courses taking place locally across the city
- An expert training team
- 10 foster care support groups across the city
- Foster carer led buddy groups
- Support of a creche where appropriate
- Training scheduled around school hours
In addition to this, we are committed to the development of our staff who are therapeutically trained in order that they can understand and support you with the care of the children you foster.
A Wrap Around Support Service
Birmingham Children’s Trust works closely with many of our colleagues in ensuring that the needs of our children are met. This includes working with medical staff, education staff such as the Virtual School, and Therapeutic & Emotional Support Services (TESS).
Competitive Financial Package
We offer our carers a competitive financial package which is comparable to those paid elsewhere, including 28 days paid holiday per 12 month period.
In addition to a weekly allowance (which is per child and dependent on their age), additional payments are made at certain times of the year such as Christmas (or another religious festival), birthdays, uniforms for clubs (e.g. Brownies), and for taking a placement out of normal office hours, to name but a few.
Finances may be presented differently by agencies but they generally work out the same for foster carers regardless of which agency they foster with.
Rewards and Celebrations
We think our foster families do an amazing job looking after the city’s most vulnerable children and so we arrange a number of rewards and celebrations throughout the year to thank them, including:
- Vivup – a lifestyle discount scheme
- Annual Foster Carer Awards Celebration
- Annual Fostering Family Fun Day
Birth Children’s Support Group
We recognise that birth children often need and want support when part of a fostering family which is why we offer a support group to your birth children.
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